In yet another incidence of unnatural death of lion, lion died due to electrocution in Amblidhar area in Jamwala in Visavadar forest range in Junagadh district.

According to sources, the lion was found dead in mysterious circumstance in a farm owned by Jasubhai Zala two days ago. The five to six-year-old lion was found dead and wild animal's body was sent for postmortem to ascertain cause the death.

Sources said that lion died due to electrocution. Forest department, meanwhile, detained one person in connection with this crime and launched probe. "We have detained farm labourer Bhupat and we are questioning him. He has confessed the crime. He laid the electric wires to ward off wild animals especially wild boar and blue-bulls'' claims forest department officials.

The recent incidences of unnatural deaths of Asiatic lions have alarmed the wildlife conservationists and it created serious concerns in this regard.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

A lioness, believed to be around 10-year-old, was found dead in Khambhra round in Visavadar forest range in Junagadh on Thursday evening. Forest officials said the lioness may have died 10 days ago. Prima facie it looks like the lioness died a natural death. The area where lioness was found dead is protected forest area.

State government has shot off another reminder, the second in two months, to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to take urgent measures to shift lions from Gujarat to Kuno wildlife sanctuary in Shivpuri district.

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi had refused to entertain the request of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government for translocation.

The Supreme Court on April 15 had passed final orders on shifting of Asiatic lions directing MoEF to take immediate steps for their reintroduction and had set a time limit of six months from the date of issuance of court's order for reintroduction of lions. The apex court held that the species was under threat of extinction and needed a second home.

Chief wildlife warden Narendra Kumar said: "I have written to the ministry's expert committee to initiate operations for shifting the lions at the earliest. We are ready from our side."

Reminder has been sent to the additional director general (ADG) Wildlife (MoEF) who heads 12-member committee. Other members of the committee include member secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), scientists from Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and chief wildlife wardens of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Other experts include Dr John Singh, Dr Ravi Chellam and Dr M K Ranjeet Singh.

The state forest department seems to be groping in the dark while searching for the bones and chopped legs of the lion cub that is suspected to have been killed by poachers in Amreli. The department has formed special teams to inspect the area around Liliya where the incident took place and has launched a combing operation in the nearby villages to nab the poachers.

On Friday night, a five-month-old lion cub was found dead on the outskirts of Gir sanctuary in Chandgadh village near Liliya in Amreli district. The cub's carcass was found in mutilated condition. Forest officials suspect that the poachers may have cut off its feet after trapping and killing the animal.

An official involved in the search operation said that in the last 36 hours of intensive search, they could only get some pieces of bones which might have been eaten by other animals after the poaching.

Since they have failed to find the bones, the officials' suspicion that a gang of professional poachers having killed the cub has only grown stronger. However, initial reports which have been received by the department indicate that all the lions in their respective beats were spotted and found to be safe. However, in the revenue area in Liliya and Savarkundla, even the officials themselves were not aware of the exact count and number.

The officials are keeping their fingers crossed, fearing that more carcass may not tumble out. Officials said that they have even rounded up some local labourers who they suspect to be involvement in the poaching. Officials said that based on their intelligences, these labourers have been rounded up and investigations are going on.

Officials said that they are yet to get a report from the forensic laboratory giving details of the exact time of the death and also as to how many hours after the murder were the legs chopped off.

A 5-month-old lion cub was killed for its nails and bones by poachers on the outskirts of Gir Wildlife Sanctuary near Liliya in Amreli district, forest wardens said.

The mutilated carcass was found with its feet and bones missing. Forest officials suspect poachers cut the feet after trapping and killing the animal.

In 2007, eight lions were killed in the sanctuary and in far-flung areas near Palitana by poachers from Madhya Pradesh. The same year, feet and bones of eight lions were found missing. "In this case too, only the skull and some small bones were still intact," said an official of the team of trackers which visited the spot. Lion bones are often used as a substitute for tiger bones in traditional medicines.

Late on Friday night, villagers called up the forest department about the legless carcass of a cub. When the officials reached Chandgadh village they found that the cub's body had been eaten by other animals.

"The carcass was in such a bad condition that it was not possible to ascertain the time of death. It has been sent to the forensic laboratory and a team has also been sent to inspect the spot," said C N Pandey, principal chief conservator of forests.

Pandey said since the legs are missing, poaching cannot be ruled out. Hence, senior forest officials along with the chief conservator of forest ( wildlife crime) have been asked to investigate the case. As the incident has occurred in a revenue area, social forestry officials have also been involved in the investigations.

After some dilly-dallying on the matter, the Gujarat government finally filed a curative petition in the Supreme Court against the planned translocation of some lions from Gir to Kuno Palpur wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh.

Earlier, in October last year, the apex court had dismissed Gujarat's review petition seeking a re-evaluation of the court's own order of April 15, 2013 allowing shifting of the big cats to Kuno Palpur.

In its order of April 15, the Supreme Court had directed that some lions from Gir forests in Gujarat should be shifted to Kuno. It had also formed a committee of experts for the implementation of the order within six months. However, the state government had challenged the same in mid-May but it was rejected after a chamber hearing by the bench.

In its curative petition, the Gujarat government has mentioned the same grounds as in previous petitions to oppose the proposed translocation of lions. The government has stated that the threat of poaching, gun culture in the area around Kano Palpur, inadequate rehabilitation and even the prey base in the area militated against the plan to shift the lions.

Officials said that no new argument can be taken up in the petition but the government can substantiate, with fact and figures, the points raised in its plea.

The officials further said that they have also annexed a copy of the recent experts' report prepared by Ravi Chellam and YV Jhala, expressing concern about the gun culture in Kuno-Palpur area and other issues.

In the petition, the government has nowhere denied that it was not willing to shift lions to Kuno from Gir but it has opposed the move on various grounds. "We cannot directly refuse translocation but can oppose it," said a government official.

Officials said that the matter will now be referred to three judges who will then go into the merits of the case. "If the judges find substance in the petition, they will order a fresh hearing. Otherwise, they can reject it with a detailed order," said an official of the Gujarat government.

In the last two years, 45 lions and 37 cubs died in Junagadh and Gir Somnath districts, all of natural causes. One lion had died an unnatural death in 2013. These deaths include the 16 lions that had died in the last six months in the East and West divisions of Gir.

This was stated by the state Government in written replies submitted in the assembly to questions asked by Congress MLAs Jawahar Chavda and Punja Vansh. The government, in reply to Chavda, said that in one year from January 2012, 10 cubs and 24 adult lions had died, while in 2013 there was a single case of unnatural death. Further, 27 cubs and 21 adults had died, all of natural causes.

The government reply said that there had been no incident of poaching or killing of any animal in the forests. Rescue teams had been formed to aid and treat wildlife, and staff had been trained to keep close watch on newborn cubs as infant mortality among cubs is very high, the state government stated in its reply.

In its reply to Punja Vansh's question, the government said eight lions had died in Gir East and one after falling into a well. Further, in Gir West, seven animals had died between September 1, 2013 and January 20, 2014.

A senior official said that the 37 cubs that had died were all below the age of three. He further said that studies had revealed that mortality was high among lion cubs. Citing a study, officials said that the survival rate of cubs in the Gir forest was 56 for every 100 live births. A study, 'Reproductive Strategy and Behaviour of Male Asiatic Lions', conducted by V Meena of Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, had indicated that survival rates of cubs was the lowest in the first year after birth.

Survival of cubs depends on factors like infanticide (which cause 60% of cub deaths), abandonment (13%) and other natural causes (26%). Early mortality of cubs due to infanticide was the chief factor limiting their survival.

Despite step-motherly treatment by the Centre, the lion population has grown steadily along with the area in which they can be found, claim officials of the state forest department. In contrast, the centre had launched various schemes and allocated massive funds for the tiger. Yet the tiger population of the country had fallen drastically (before increasing slightly) but the area in which the big cats are to be found had shrunk over the years.

According to the 2010 tiger census, the number of tigers in the country was 1706, up from 1411 in 2006. But tiger territory had come down to 72,852 sq km from 93,967 sq km over the same period. In contrast, the lion population in Gujarat - the only abode of the Asiatic lion - has not only gone up in the past four years but the territory in which it could be found had doubled.

In 1972, the tiger population in the country was 1827. This increased to its peak of 4334 and then declined to 1411 by 2006. By 2010, tiger numbers had again gone up to 1706. On the other hand, the lion population, which was 177 in 1968 and 180 in 1974, had steadily increased and was 411 according to the April 2010 lion census.

Forest department officials say that land area in which lions are found had doubled in the last three years. During the 2010 census, they were spread over a 10,000 sq km area but an analysis done in 2013 of prey killed by lions had revealed that the big cat now had sway over 20,000 sq km.

The officials further said that the central government had spent crores on conservation of tigers but was miserly when it came to funding various lion conservation schemes. The lion was not covered under Project Tiger nor was there a separate central project for lion conservation. The Centre had launched Project Rhino and Project Elephant recently but it had been neglecting the lion in allocation of funds, alleged officials.

A scientific paper by Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, HS Sinsha, says that the key aspect in conservation of the Asiatic lion was their dispersal and subsequent protection of surrounding satellite populations.

Approximately one-fourth of the Asiatic lions are to be found in protected satellite populations outside the Gir Conservation Area and they subsist primarily on wild prey. The protection of these satellite habitats and maintenance of corridors linking them to the core population in the Gir Conservation Area has allowed for the continuous growth of this endangered species.